The infamous Scale length

[Mikio]

I have a little question

today I played an Artcore bass... it was sweet man, but it's 30" scale


so my question is... would that be something to be worried about? 34vs35" isn't a big deal, you can almost not tell when you're playing [at least I don't feel it that much, though I feel sort of better with 35]

but, if I get a 30" scale Bass... would it spoil my technique in any way? would I be hitting the wrong notes on it? or if I play it too much, in my longer basses?

[bhernco]

I find the shorter scale to be faster, but I have no real problem going from 30" ( Alembic ) to 34" ( Warrior. )

[Mikio]

thanks

I think if your seeing what you're playing, it shouldn't bother, but if you're reading or playing live, standing, and not watching your hand... it 'could' get in the way

but well, will have to live with it, haha

[7flat5]

One way to look at it is that, any time you are playing a 34" bass above the second position, you are playing the same fret spacing as on a short scale. You will adjust, and even be able to go back and forth with practice, as noted. I've got a 30" Gibson, a 34" fretless, and two 35" 5-strings. It takes a couple of minutes to adjust, then you are home again.

[groooooove]

short answer, no. nothing to worry about.

think of how many bass players switch regularly between guitar and bass..

[Mikio]

that's a totally different story, I think

when you're playing guitar you're playing guitar, and that's it


but if you're playing a shorter bass.... it's still a bass... I don't think you get my point lol


thanks 7flat5 ^_^, I thought it was something like that... I was worried about switching basses live, so I guess I won't be doing that with basses that are too short

[Implosion]

The guitar vs bass comparison holds in my opinion. Would it cause you trouble to play the same thing on a guitar that you would play on a bass? I don't think so.

[fretlessguy]

No real difference. I actually like to play 30s more these days. You can get 30 inch short scale strings of any type and any gauge just like the long ones (www.juststrings.com, www.bpstrings.com). If you really like the bass, then I'd say buy it.
Just be sure to get a bag or case to fit it when you get it. Some of those semi-hollow things are near impossible to get a matching case.

[Throckmorten]

No problem. As others have said. Personally, I found a 35" harder to adapt to, and I would hardly say that was really hard

Enjoy that short-scale, you may get hooked.